Old Man and the Desert

Chapter 3

The following day, Ben helped Thrice mend her clothes. She insisted that they get fixed and even though sewing wasn't really his thing, Ben decided to help. And besides, Thrice only had one good arm. Though, Ben thought she sort of looked like another Jedi since she was borrowing his spare clothes. He noted that she was quite, but her presence was quite comforting.

Ben figured he must be lonelier than he thought. It wasn't like him to seek companionship. He hardly spoke to anyone since he dropped off Leia at Alderaan 15 years ago. Yet, oddly enough he felt that ease with his unexpected guest.

Thrice noticed Ben's solemn mood and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Hmm? Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking. One tends to do that when they get older. Don't mind me."

Thrice studied him with her eerie eyes and said, "You're not that old. I probably have several pairs of shoes older than you."

Ben was appalled. He had never been compared to shoes before. He put down his sewing and said, "I very much doubt that, my dear. You hardly seem out of your teens."

The she-warrior frowned. "Shows how much you know. I am not human."

"Then, what are you then? Besides your usual eyes, I can hardly tell the difference."

"Varin. I'm Varin."

"Never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised. Until recently, I never even heard of humans."

"Then, I suppose that makes us even. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, but you appear awfully young, oh wise ancient one."

Thrice was stumped at Ben's sarcasm. She didn't expect him to tease her back and Ben knew it. He smiled at her look of shock and watched as she regained her composure.

"Are you insulting me?"

Tactfully, he replied, "Oh no, but you've implied that you're the elder here. I'm showing you respect."

In disbelief, she said, "Respect? Oh, I doubt that, but I'm curious…how old you think I am?"

The old Jedi knew there was no right answer to that when speaking to a lady. He instead tactfully replied, "I think I have already gave you an answer. I said I thought you were in your teens."

Thrice was impressed by the old negotiator. She said, "You're right. You did. Though, I've been thinking. You haven't asked me anything about the crash and my ship. If you don't want to know, I understand. Sometimes its better not to know."

Then, to her surprise he gently reached out and patted her hand. His palm felt callus against hers, but she didn't pull away. He gave her a weak smile and said, "It's all right. Everyone has their secrets."

Thrice thought about his comment. She didn't expect the old hermit to say that, but then again nobody starts out a hermit. There was probably a long story behind it. She wasn't sure if it was her place, but her curiosity was nagging her.

She jokingly asked, "What's your secret? Did you kill somebody?"

Ben grew quite and turned away to stroke his beard. In truth, he had killed somebody or at least it felt like he did. He had lost Anakin to the Dark Side and in some ways that was even worse.

Thrice reached over to take his hand again. She lowered her gaze and said, "I'm sorry. I was too brash."

He smirked. It had been a long time since anybody consoled him. Normally, he wasn't the type to wallow in self-pity, but he found he couldn't resist her kindness. It had been a long time since anybody had lent him an ear, but he wasn't sure if she would understand.

"No, you needn't be sorry. It's just that I should have killed somebody a long time ago, but I didn't. Now I'm not sure if that was the right thing, but at the time I could not bring myself to do it…my heart wasn't in it."

Thrice calmly replied, "I understand."

He was surprised. "You do? Some times I have difficulty understanding it myself."

In response, the she-warrior looked away and gazed out into the distance, but Ben knew that she was really looking at some place within. She said, "The heart can make us do many things we never thought we would do."

Impressed, he said, "My, you are old and wise."

Thrice was surprised. She turned to him and asked, "Are you teasing me?"

Ben shyly grinned. "I suppose I am. You don't have any objections?"

"No, and I know you don't either."

"And what makes you say that?"

"A feeling…"

Ben then looked down and noticed that they were both holding hands, but this time their fingers were laced. He had no idea how they had gotten that way, but when he looked at her he saw that she wasn't upset. She wasn't disturbed at all. There was a peaceful look in her eerie eyes. It was like she was the first soul to really see him in years. Yet, she was so bittersweet and it made him think that perhaps she was as ancient as she claimed to be.

"You're Force-sensitive. You're reading me."

Thrice blushed and lowered her gaze. "A little, but—"

Suddenly, Ben stood up and released her hand. He sensed something. Someone was here. He turned towards Thrice and noticed that she sensed it too. Quickly, Ben picked up his lightsaber and headed towards the door. He peeked out and saw that a ship had landed nearby and several Imperial troopers were scouting the area. He could see that they were interested in the spot where Thrice's ship had crashed.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Imperial troops, likely on a scouting mission. They seem to be looking for your ship."

The she-warrior tried to get out of her chair and grabbed her belt. "Then, I'll slay them. Those dogs are persistent."

"That doesn't seem likely in your current condition. You'll probably get yourself killed."

"Then, what do you think we should do? Wait until they come kill us?"

Ben replied, "No. We sneak out the backdoor. Come on."

He then handed her a pair of crutches and picked up her belt and a bag of supplies. Together they went silently out the back and started down the rocky terran, but after a few feet, Thrice knocked over a rock that alerted one of the troops.

They heard the soldier say, "I think I heard something over there."

"Hurry," whispered Ben.

Irked, Thrice said, "I can't run with a broken leg. Where are we going?"

Ben scanned the horizon. The desert was too harsh for them to make an escape. It was true that maybe they could sneak away, but on foot they would be too slow and an easy target by air. The best course he could see was to either hide in another cave or fight, though fighting was a bad idea. Ben didn't want to advertise his Jedi abilities. Hiding seemed wisest thing to do, but unfortunately it was not Thrice's opinion. Instead, the she-warrior pointed to the Imperial ship.

"Look, their ship isn't too far away. If we seize it then we can get away."

"But—"

"Come on."

Thrice began to limp towards the Imperial ship, but Ben quietly caught up to her. He grabbed her shoulder to stop her and said, "Are you crazy? You can't take on the men on the ship. They'll shoot you on sight."

"Then, we need a diversion. We can take men on board by surprise."

"And how do you plan to manage that? Don't you think we should hide? They won't be able to find us in the caves."

Thrice gave him a meaningful look. "I am not hiding." She then grabbed her belt from his hand and tied it around her waist. "If you want to run and hide then go. I'm taking the ship."

Ben was beginning to dislike her stubborn strike. He was about to argue how stupid and foolish her plan was, but she was already limping away. She didn't even wait for his reply. She was reckless. He had no choice, but to follow and before he knew it he was crouching behind a boulder while she messed with her blaster.

"What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Making a diversion."

Ben looked at what she was doing and saw that she was deliberately settling up her blaster to overload. When she was done she quickly stood up and threw it as far as she could away from the ship. The blaster instantly exploded and the Imperial troopers were on high alert. They immediately ran to investigate and the men stationed to watch the ship were anxious to see what was happening.

It was then that Thrice drew her sword and threw it like a spear at one the men and killed him instantly. Ben wasted no idea in using the Force to shove the second guard into the ship and knocking him out.

Thrice smirked and limped out towards the ship and retrieved her sword from the dead man's body. "Nice work, Ben. Come on before those dogs get back."

Ben shook his head. He should have known that Thrice would be trouble. Though, he wasn't sure if he should leave. His place was here on Tatooine. He had sworn to watch over Luke and protect him against the Empire, not go gallivanting with a woman warrior.

"Thrice…I think I'll—AHHHH!"

Suddenly, Ben was shot in the back by one of the Imperial troops. He fell face down onto the sand. Thrice began to fire back with one of the dead guard's blasters.

"No!" she cried.

She quickly ran to Ben and started dragging him towards the ship. She then sealed the doors on the hatch and hobbled towards the cockpit. Seconds later the engines fired and the ship began to fly towards the blackness of space.

XXX

TBC

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Cliff hanger!

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